Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - KGVO recently reported on the busy summer for highway construction around western Montana, but the city of Missoula itself also has ambitious plans for street and infrastructure construction.

KGVO spoke to City Engineer Andy Schultz on Friday for details on where construction will be going on within the city limits this summer.

Just as the Highways, City Streets will Undergo lots of Construction this Summer

“We've got a busy construction season that kicked off in March actually, and it's going to extend into the fall,” began Schultz. “From a utility standpoint, the city is investing over $6 million in some water main replacements, and so we've got a number of projects throughout town that are in the works. One has already wrapped up and then we have one that has yet to start.”

From downtown to the South Hills area, Schultz said there are plans to make various repairs throughout the summer.

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Water Main Repairs and Chip Sealing will Continue this Summer

“We've got a couple of areas where we're going to install new stormwater infrastructure up in the South Hills, including on Garrett Street, and at a place called Cat Tail Corner, which is over by Albertsons near the corner of 39th and Russell so that's what we have for a utility standpoint,” he said.  “It's a big season. Then we've got a number of road projects going on as well that our street department is working on. They'll be doing chip seal work later this summer, and before that, they're doing milling overlay on some key streets throughout town.”

Schultz said it will be easy for Missoula residents to keep tabs on where city street projects will be taking place by logging on to the city’s website.

Click the Link to see the full Schedule of City Street Repair Plans

“Specifically related to construction projects, we've got an interactive map that has a list of all the city of Missoula capital improvement projects that you can click on,” he said. “Click there and see where they're all located around town. It doesn't necessarily give you a start and end date for those projects, but you’ll get an idea of all the work that's happening. Then if you Google City of Missoula Public Works projects, you can get to a page that has more description of those ongoing projects, and gives you a description of work and detour maps for those projects as well.”

Just as the engineers with the Montana Department of Transportation issued a plea for driver safety in construction zones, Schultz brought home the same message for city projects.

“As you're approaching these work zones, I know it can be frustrating to have to deal with construction and detours, but we ask that you pay attention because there will be new traffic patterns,” he said. “We ask that you respect the safety of the contractors out there doing the work and be cognizant a lot of times of detours that will be deterring you from a major street onto a neighborhood street where there are different traffic conditions. Please go slow. I know it's going to add a minute or two to your commute, but safety is the number one priority of the workers out there and of the public and the neighborhood.”

Click here to find the schedule for road, street, and infrastructure projects in the City of Missoula.

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